American Economic Review
ISSN 0002-8282 (Print) | ISSN 1944-7981 (Online)
Social Culture and Economic Performance
American Economic Review
(pp. 924–937)
Abstract
The connection between obtaining higher paying jobs and undertaking some seemingly irrelevant activity is interpreted as "social culture." In the context of a society trying to adopt a new technology, I show that by allowing the firms to give preferential treatment to workers based on some "cultural activity," the society can partially overcome an informational free-riding problem. Therefore, social culture may affect the economic performance by altering the effective production technology of the economy.Citation
Fang, Hanming. 2001. "Social Culture and Economic Performance." American Economic Review 91 (4): 924–937. DOI: 10.1257/aer.91.4.924JEL Classification
- Z13 Economic Sociology; Economic Anthropology
- J31 Wage Level and Structure; Wage Differentials
- O33 Technological Change: Choices and Consequences; Diffusion Processes